Page 55 of Castle's Cards

“Why not? He knows we need it. He won’t say no.”

I groan in frustration. Izzy looks at me expectantly.

“It’s not about him saying no. It’s wrong to ask him that. He is not my personal bank account that I can use to fund everything. He’s my boyfriend, and I’m not going to take advantage of that.”

Izzy huffs and storms down the hall.

“You’re just not willing to do everything it takes to make our lives better. If the roles were reversed andIhad a rich boyfriend, you can bet I wouldn’t hesitate to ask him to help us get a house in this situation.”

“That’s not fair, Izzy. Do you have any idea what kind of position that would put us in? What if he said no? Then what?”

“But he wouldn’t.”

“You don’t know that. Carter is a great guy and he cares about us. But life isn’t always simple. There are so many reasons why he might not want to buy us a house. A million reasons why I don’twanthim to. What if he agreed and then we broke up? Then I’m on the hook for payments I can’t afford, we get foreclosed on and we’re back in the same situation, except worse because then we have that sort of default on my credit score.”

Izzy blinks and her eyes begin to tear up.

“God, you’re so negativeall the time. We both know he wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Look, I know this sucks, but I’m trying to figure things out the best that I can,” I finally say. It’s clear that the line of conversation isn’t going anywhere, and it’s better to just leave it than to pursue something that will cause more stress than is necessary.

“Well, you better figure out what youaredoing, because I’m not going to live with Mom.” Izzy slams her door shut, leaving me in the living room alone to figure out what to do.

Great. There goes that plan. She doesn’t understand the complexities of relationships, and I know that. But it’s hard not to blame her for the hardship we’re going to have to endure because she won’t go live with Mom.

It sucks, and I know living with Mom is hard. But it’s certainly not bad enough that being homeless is better than being there.

Ugh. I throw myself back against the couch and cover my eyes with my arm as I cry. Why can’t life just be easier?

Why must everything be so damn difficult?

Chapter Nineteen

Carter

Yesterday’sfightwithAddyis still rattling me. After she threw me out, I went home, unwilling to face anybody at the club. Who knows what sort of fights I would have started because of the mood I was in.

I’ve called her three times today, but she hasn’t answered any of them. I can’t believe she’s this angry at me, especially considering that I didn’t do anything but offer to help. But I’m trying not to hold it against her. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that people lash out when they’re in a tough situation, even if it’s not necessarily the way they would normally react.

When I pull up to the club I grimace. I don’t want to play tonight. I don’t really want to be around people at all. But I need to talk to Court. And maybe playing some cards will help take my mind off my troubles.

I get out of the car and stride to the front door. The second I step in, the smell of cigar smoke mixed with booze rush past me, like the door summoned the scent upon opening. I scan the room, but don’t see Addy among the hosts working. I can’t remember if she was supposed to work today, but if there was ever a reason to call into work, it would certainly be a situation like this.

Court walks into his office and I eagerly make my way across the room. I stick my foot into the door before it can close. Court turns around in surprise but an easy expression falls on his face as he sits down.

“Hey, Carter. What’s up?”

“I desperately need to talk to you.”

“About the charity event? I talked to Markita and she said she’d work with you on it.”

My brows pull together as I step into the office. Court grabs a package of licorice strings from his desk drawer and drops one into his mouth as I respond.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“The marketing specialist for the club? Markita Newton? I asked if she’d be willing to do marketing for the charity and she agreed.”

“Oh, right,” I say before nodding. “That’s great news, just not what’s on my mind at the moment. That’s actually not what I want to talk about.”

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